COVID-19 and Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

This meta-analysis aimed to determine the prevalence, symptoms, and outcomes of COVID-19 in the elderly with Parkinson’s disease (PD) by searching in the international databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences, and EMBASE using the keywords of “COVID-19” and “Parkinson’s.” All articles related to Parkinson's disease and COVID-19 from January 2019 to October 20, 2021 were reviewed. The STATA software was used for analysis. A total of 20 articles were selected for data extraction in this meta-analysis, of which ten were cross-sectional studies (to determine the prevalence), five case–control studies, and five cohort studies (to examine the association). The results of the meta-analysis showed the prevalence of COVID-19 in patients with PD was 1.06% (95% CI 1.03–1.1%; P = 0.02), and the prevalence of their hospitalization due to COVID-19 was 0.98% (95% CI: 0.95–1.02%; P = 0.00). Also, the prevalence of depression and anxiety during the pandemic in this group was 46% (95% CI 29–64%; P = 0.00) and 43% (95% CI: 24–63%; P = 0.00), respectively. The prevalence of tremor and sleep problems were higher than those of other symptoms in the studied population. According to the results, there was no significant difference in the risk of COVID-19 infection between Parkinson's patients and healthy people. In other words, the risk of COVID-19 infection was equal in both groups (RR = 1.00 (CI 95% 0.77–1.30%; P = 0.15)). The results showed mortality and hospitalization rates of the elderly with Parkinson's disease were not significantly different from those of the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and mental disorders increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, designing and developing more specific studies, like cohort studies, with large sample size is required for assessing these associations.

Fatigue and long duration of infection are associated with worsen motor and non‐motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease following Omicron COVID‐19 pandemic

“…It can occur at every stage of PD, often persist, and may worsen over time. A meta‐analysis showed that the symptom of fatigue due to COVID‐19 was 1.20 times greater in patients with PD than ones without PD (Afraie et al., 2023 ).…”

Quality of Life in Patients With Parkinson’s Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted healthcare delivery, and this alone has adversely affected the care delivered to PD patients [ 17 , 27 , 28 ]. Isolation, altered medical supply, and poor access to healthcare adversely affect the QOL in PD patients.…”

“…No study has correlated Ramadan fasting to QOL. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many patients with PD in different aspects [ 16 , 17 ]. This study aimed first to assess the level of QOL in patients with PD, second to evaluate the relationship between the factors (i.e., determinants of fasting for Ramadan and COVID-19) influencing QOL in patients with PD, and lastly to determine the association between sociodemographic factors and QOL in patients with PD.…”

Pre-existing neurological conditions and COVID-19 co-infection: Data from systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and scoping reviews

“…Five systematic reviews assessed the impact of PD on COVID-19 severity across 279,934 patients with PD ( Table 5 ) [ [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] ]. Across several of these reviews it was found that the risk of severe COVID-19 in PD patients increased with age [ [29] , [30] , [31] ].…”

“…Additionally, PD was associated with poor in-hospital outcomes, increased infection severity, and increased risk of mortality in a majority of the reviews. However, one meta-analysis with a large sample size of 75,701 cases did not find a significant correlation between history of PD and COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality rates compared to the general population [ 33 ].…”